


we could be enough

by kallistob



Series: Desire [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Nightmares, Sleeping Together, just sleeping, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 21:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12374787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallistob/pseuds/kallistob
Summary: Percival remembers what life was like with Credence at his side.





	we could be enough

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "cuddling." enjoy :)

He woke up with a jolt, lips open and panting, his sheets a noose around his body. His pajamas clung to his skin, drenched in sweat. Percival took them off with trembling hands, willing his mind to stop replaying images of his nightmare.

It was always _him_. Percival’s life in a stranger’s face. Percival’s secrets, his story, exposed and ripe for the taking and oh, how Grindelwald loved to take, even when Percival had nothing left to give.

He shivered and rolled over on his side, staring at the wall - eyelashes wet and messy with tears. Percival wiped them with the sleeve of his pajama, then kept rubbing at his eyes until it was nearly painful.

He rolled over once more. His trembling had ceased, but he could not, would not, sleep. He knew staying in bed was useless, despite how exhausted he felt, but he was too hollow to move.

He wished Credence was with him.

They hadn’t shared much. A smile here, a lunch there. But Credence’s smiles had made Percival feel like he was more than just Director Graves - the person who made wizards and witches jump out of his path or cower at his feet. He could execute people in the blink of an eye, should he decide it was fair.

Credence did not see any of that. He only saw a kind man who became his friend, as alien as that notion was to Percival. As illegal as he knew that relationship was. He was very careful in his meetings with Credence, both because of his own reputation, and because of Credence’s mother.

Percival hated her. Credence too, although he would never admit it out loud. But the young man did not wish to abandon his sisters, even if Percival caught him thinking about running away with Percival more than once.

Credence was developing feelings for him. Feelings he found himself reciprocating the more time they spent together, no matter how wrong it was.

He should have cared about being found out, but he didn’t.

Not when Credence looked at him like he held infinity in the palm of his hand.

Not when he found Credence curled up in their alley one night, throwing up the very little food Mary Lou deigned to give him. The poor boy was shaking all over, and he whimpered pitifully when Percival approached him.

“Credence.” Percival crouched down, his voice tight with worry. “My boy. Are you alright? How bad is it this time?”

“M - my back,” Credence croaked out. “She was a - a - angry. Needed an outlet.”

Percival swallowed down the anger rising within him like the tide. Credence did not need his hatred now. He needed his care. His love.

His so called “friendship”.

“Come,” Percival murmured. “Let’s get you home.”

They apparated together. Credence hissed as Percival slowly took his clothes off his back, his magic boiling within him as he saw the damage inflicted to the boy’s skin.

“Credence,” he said as he weaved a spell in the air, settling it over the boy. It soothed and warmed Credence, numbing his pain and healing the cuts until they were no more than scars over the expanse of his back. “I promise you, I will take you away from there. You will join the wizarding world with me.”

“I can’t, Mr. Graves,” Credence said automatically. “My sisters -”

“I’ll take your sisters too, if I have to,” Percival said, nostrils flaring. “I refuse to let that woman hurt you more than she’s already done. You don’t deserve it.”

Credence didn’t reply.

“You do not deserve it,” Percival repeated with passion, taking Credence’s face in his hands without thinking. The boy looked up at him, eyes wide. “No matter what she tells you. Do you understand?”

Credence gave a tiny nod, and then, helplessly, his eyes dropped to Percival’s lips. Percival pretended not to notice. Credence's cold hands came up to cover Percival’s own. “I do deserve it.”

“No,” Percival frowned. “I’ll repeat it until you believe me.”

“I think she knows,” Credence said quietly. “She’s intuitive, and she’s known me since I was a kid.”

“Knows what?”

“I think she knows that I am seeing someone. I think she knows that it is a man, and I think…” Credence took a deep breath, eyelashes fluttering. “I - I think she knows how much I want you to kiss me. How much I want to be held by you.”

“Credence - “

The boy kissed him abruptly, a tentative press of lips against his own. Percival felt his heart soar high, and he closed his eyes, unwilling to refuse himself this.

-

They spent that night cuddled up on Percival’s couch, Credence’s thin frame swimming in one of Percival’s pajamas. Percival told him about his teenage years, what life was like as the only child of a famous wizarding family. He told him about what a magical school looked like, what you studied here, how he came to work at MACUSA. In return Credence told him about what he remembered of his life before he was adopted by his Ma, and Percival held him close and kissed him softly.

They fell asleep like this, Credence lying against his chest, nuzzling Percival’s neck, and Percival’s hands wrapped around the young man’s back.

That night he slept soundly for the first time since the war, and he knew Credence’s presence in his arms - his love for him, the love they both knew they felt - was the benefactor of his peace. He wished for many more nights like this, snuggled against Credence, and as he imagined those nights his fondness for his boy only grew.

Percival felt good.

Two days later he was captured by Grindelwald, and when the real world greeted him again, he learned that Credence had been executed. 

-

He shivered, helpless. It seemed to him that the shadows of his room grew, but it could have been his imagination.

He did not sleep.

 


End file.
